Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 1.djvu/431

 BOEOTIA. KofpcUios, Alcacus, ap. Strab, I. c), the former flotr- infr to the left, and tbe latter to the right of Coro- neia, and from thenco into the lake Copais. On the banks of the Gnarins stood the temple of Athena Itonia. — ▼!. Iso3IAKTUS Cl<r6fia»ros) or Hoplias ('OirAiaT),a small stream flowing into the Phalaras. (Pint, Ltfs. 29.) — vii. Triton (Tpirwy^ Pans. ix. 33. § 8), flowing by Alalcomenae into the lake Co- pais. It was from this stream, and not from the one in Libya, that Athena derived the surname of Trito- geneia. — m. Ocalea CCUeaXia^ Strab. ix. p. 410), a rirer flowing midway between Haliartus and Alal- comenae, with a city of the same name upon its banks. Leake describes it as rising in the eastern part of Mount Leibethrium, and issuing tlirongh a precipitous gorge lying between the eastern end of Tilphossium and a rocky peak (vol. ii. p. 206). — ix. LoPHis (Ao^ij, Pans. ix. 33. § 4), a small stream near Haliartus, apparently the same as the Hop- UTEs {'OwKirris) of Plutarch {Lys, 29), where Ly- sander fell. — x, xi. Perhessus (JltpfirfaaSs) and OuiEiiTS ("OA^iifs), two streams rising in Mt. He- licon, which, ahcr uniting theur waters, flow into the lake Copais near Haliartus. Leake regards the Kefiildri as the Pcnnessus, and the river of Zagard as the Olmeius. (Strab. ix. pp. 407, 411; Schol. ad Hesiod. Theog. 5 ; Paus. ix. 29. § 2 ; Leake, vol. ii. Pl212.) There are very few streams flowing into the east- ern side of the lake Copais, as the mountains rise almost immediately above this side of the lake. The only one of importance is the Melas (McAas), now Mavropotdmij names derived finom the dark colour of its deep transparent waters. It rises at the foot of the precipitous rocks on the northern side of Or- chomenns, from two katav6thra, which accounts for the statement of Plutarch {SulL 20), that the Melas was the only river of Greece navigable at its sources. These two fountains are probably those called Phoe- nix and EUuia by Plutarch (^Pelop. 16). They form two considerable rivers. One flows north-eastward, and joins the Cephissus at the distance of little more than half a mile; the other, which is to the west- ward of the former, follows for a considerable distance the foot of the cliffs of Orchomenus, and is then lost in the marahes of the lake Copais. (Plut U. ce.; Paus. ix. 38. § 6; Strab. ix. pp. 407, 415; Leake, vol. iL p. 154, seq.) Plutarch says (^SulL 20) that the Melas augmented at the summer sohttice like the Nile. Strabo states (ix. p. 407) that the Melas flowed through the territory of Haliartus : hence some modem writers suppose that there was a river Melas on the western side of the lake Copais, and others that the territory of Haliartus extended to the other side of the lake ; but ii is more probablo that Strabo was ignorant of the locality. The dark waters of the Melas are often contrasted with the white waters of the Cephi-ssus ; and hence it was said that the former dyed the wool of sheep black, and the latter white. (Plin. ii. 103. s. 106; comp. Vitruv. vilL 3; Senec. N, Q. iii. 25; Solin. 7.) II. SournERN BoEonA. Southern Boeotia is divided into two distinct parts by the mountain Teumessus. The northern of these two divisions is to a great extent a plain, in which Thebes stands; the southern is drained by the Asopus and its tributaries. Hence the southern part of Boeotia may be divided into the plain of Thebes, and the valley of the Asopus. 1. Plain of Thebes. ^ In the northern part of the BOEOTIA. 413 plain of Tlivbes is the lake Htuca ('Tik^ ^^h-^i Strab. ix. p. 407, xv. p. 708), now called Livddhiat lake of Senzina^ separated, as we have already re- marked, from the lake Copais by Mt. Phicinm or Sphingium. This lake is a deep crater, entirely surrounded by mountains, with unusually clear and deep water. Hence the Ismenus and the other streams, descending from the mountains which bound the Theban plain, cannot flow into this lake, as is represented in the maps. They are said to flow into a separate marsh to the south of Hylica; but the waters of this marsh And their way into the lake Hy- lica through a narrow ravine in the mountains. (Forch- hammer, p. 166.) The lake Hylica is much lower than the Copais ; which &ct accounts for the forma- tion of the tunnel to carry off a portion of the waters of the latter into the former. It has been mentioned above that there was a small lake to the east of Hy- lica, now called Moritzi or Paralimni, and that there is probably a katavdthrum flowing from the Hylica to this lake, and from the hitter again across Mount Messapium to the sea. This lake is only a shallow manh, and in summer is reduced to small dimensions. Its ancient name is uncertain. Forch- hammer calls it Schoenub (ix"*"^^^^! Strab. ix. p. 410), the name of the river upon which the town of Schoeuus stood. Leake, however, supposes that the river Schoenus is the K<mav6ri^ which rises near Thespiae. MUIler conjectures that it was called Harma (r^v KoKovfAtPfjy ^Apfia XltiV7v, Aelian, V, n. iii. 45), from a town of the same name. The only running streams in the plain of Thebes are the Kanavdri mentioned above, and the two rivulets, the Ismenus and Dircb, upon which Thebes stood. The two latter are described under Thebak. Nicander ( Theriac. 887) also mentions a river called Cnopus (Kv^iros), wluch the Scholiast says was the same as the Ismenus. The Leopus in Dicae- archus (106) is supposed by MuUer to be a false reading for Cnopus. The north-western portion of the plain of Thebes, Iring south-east of Mt. Phicium, was called the Teneric Plain (rh Triytpuchy vtHlov, Strab. ix. p. 413 ; Paus. ix. 26. § 1.) To the west of Thebes were the plains of Thespiae and Leuctra. The course of the Asopus is described in a sepa- rate article. [Asopus.] The only other rivers in the southern half of the southern portion of Boeotia are the Oeroe (^HcfH^i}), which rises in Mt ttdnq; v flows by Plataeae, and falls into the Corinthian gulf [Plataeae] ; and the Thermodon (Btpfuadwyf Herod, ix. 43; Paus. ix. 19. § 3), which rises in Mt Hypatus, and flows into the Asopus near Ta- nagra. South-west of Thebes is the plain of Pla- taeae, forming a lof^y track of table hmd. Its centre forms the point of partition for the waters which flow into the Euboean and Corinthian gulfs respectively. The range of hills separating the pliun of Thebes from the valley of the Asopus, to which we have given the name of Teumessus, is a low range branching from the eastern end of Mt. Hdioon, and extending as far as the Euripus. The falls of these hills descending towards Pames divide the valley of the Asopus into three parts — the plain of Pareso- pia, the plain of Tanagra, and the pUin of Oropus. The highest peak in the range is now called Soro^ from which an offshoot approaches so near to Mt. Pamcs that there is only a narrow rocky ravine be- tween them, tiirough which the Asopus finds its way from the plain of Parasopia into that of Tanagra. (Leake, vol. ii. p. 22 1 .) The plain of Oropus, which